Friends, Scholars, Paris Lovers – Lend Me Your Ears. As graduate students taking a course in Emerging Media and Communications, I personally invite all of you to contribute your thoughts, musings, and speculations to this week’s New Media Question, which is simply the following…

Where Did All the Parisian Summer Grad School Classes Go…

While I was torn between writing about the new BlackBerry Playbook (too easy), Remediation (too repetitive) and New Media around TX-OU weekend (too risky- I went to Alabama), I decided to focus on a question that has personally been bugging me since I began to navigating the new world channels within the labyrinth of Graduate School Bureaucracy.

At this point I am sure you’re asking, why does Amanda even care about Parisian Summer Grad School classes? You raise a good point so let me explain further why I inquire about the above:

As many of you readers may remember from when we went around and played the ‘Hello/Intro’ game on our 1st day of EMAC6300, I shared with the class that I have a particular interest focused on International Communications. In the past, I have traveled to Europe extensively and also lived there in college while interning with a boutique agency, Comms-Unit. When you combine a person who loves to travel and emerging media with a rising international social media firm like Social Media Delivered where I currently work – You can bet two cents that I will do everything in my power to plan and complete a cultural emersion internship and course that which will cover the 6 hours of class credit that I need for Summer 2011.

Here in lies the problem… from the extensive amount of research I’ve done, virtually every Summer Abroad program in Paris I looked up and collected data from was designed for an UNDERGRADUATE… which I am not. And to add salt to the wound, I discovered this fact after sending a very comprehensive/detailed email to both my abroad and academic advisors who are working tirelessly to help me make my way abroad.

So I decided to turn to you, my fellow colleagues and classmates. Perhaps you may have run across certain opportunities which offer concrete details about Parisian Summer Classes for GRADUATE students. Through this investigative journey I am also interested in documenting how social media’s role effects this research question, because virtually all information available can be found online in social networking vehicles like Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube. You would think there would be a LinkedIn group focused on Graduate Students Studying in Paris… I intend to start one if I don’t find it next week.

This scholarly voyage is also an extension of the research paper I eventually hope to conceptualize and develop as we move toward the end of the semester. I intend to write my final paper for EMAC6300 on what criteria is key for developing a strong & well-rounded Emerging Media program. It seemed natural to also consider students who had attended programs where completing abroad fieldwork was not only a requirement but encouraged because it gives students a broader idea about the holistic global village we all play a role in.

The French are also famous for one of the more primitive forms that could be considered a pioneer in social networking communication: the salon. So if you do know where the Parisian Summer Grad School classes are, I am begging you, PLEASE send me any of the following:

As an example, of how to spot and interact to a developing hazard, consider a parked vehicle
on the side of the road. When the practical testis over, the
examiner will tell you whether you passed or failed. When you
are stuck in the traffic, switch off your engine.